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This research was funded by Universidad Rey Juan Carlos within the framework of the projects 'Estudio integral del sistema barrera arenosa-laguna costera desarrollado en la desembocadura del Ebro como ecosistema centinela para observaciones costeras del cambio global (ICOLADE)'and 'Analisis biogeomorfologico del sistema barrera-laguna costera del delta del Ebro. Estudio desu funcion como ecosistema centinela del cambio global (LAGUNERO)'. Lara Talavera holds apostdoctoral grant modality 'Maria Zambrano' for the Requalification of Spanish University System2023-2024, funded by the European Union-NextGenerationEU.

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Analysing Spatiotemporal Variability of Chlorophyll-a Concentration and Water Surface Temperature in Coastal Lagoons of the Ebro Delta (NW Mediterranean Sea, Spain)

Publicated to:Journal Of Marine Science And Engineering. 12 (6): 941- - 2024-06-01 12(6), DOI: 10.3390/jmse12060941

Authors: Talavera, Lara; Dominguez-Gomez, Jose Antonio; Navarro, Nuria; Rodriguez-Santalla, Inmaculada

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Abstract

Coastal lagoons are highly productive transitional water bodies threatened by human factors and vulnerable to global climate change effects. Monitoring biophysical parameters in these ecosystems is crucial for their preservation. In this work, we used Sentinel-2 and Landsat imagery combined with in situ data to (1) develop preliminary algorithms for retrieving the Chl-a concentration and water surface temperature of six lagoons located in the Ebro Delta (NE Mediterranean Sea, Spain), and to (2) compute maps and trend lines for analysing their spatiotemporal evolution from 2015 to 2022. Our findings showed that the algorithms' accuracy ranged from 72% to 78% and had limited potential under high Chl-a concentration regimes. Even so, they revealed the lagoons' trophic status, usual fluctuations, and deviations of both parameters attributed to seasonal (i.e., light and temperature) and short-term physical (i.e., winds) forcing, as well as valuable spatial patterns potentially useful for conservation efforts and land use planning. Future work will focus on the acquisition of a larger in situ data sample under a range of environmental conditions to improve the algorithms' robustness, which in turn will allow the investigation of natural and human factors controlling the dynamics of the two investigated parameters. ), and to (2) compute maps and trend lines for analysing their spatiotemporal evolution from 2015 to 2022. Our findings showed that the algorithms' accuracy ranged from 72% to 78% and had limited potential under high Chl-a concentration regimes. Even so, they revealed the lagoons' trophic status, usual fluctuations, and deviations of both parameters attributed to seasonal (i.e., light and temperature) and short-term physical (i.e., winds) forcing, as well as valuable spatial patterns potentially useful for conservation efforts and land use planning. Future work will focus on the acquisition of a larger in situ data sample under a range of environmental conditions to improve the algorithms' robustness, which in turn will allow the investigation of natural and human factors controlling the dynamics of the two investigated parameters.

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